How it works
Trust & Verification
Honest dental reviews only work if the people reading them can trust them. Here's exactly how we make sure every score on SmileProof is earned.
Reviews are written by real patients
Every review goes through an email verification step before it can be published. We link the reviewer's email to the review so we can confirm a real person submitted it — not a bot or a competitor.
Practices cannot edit or delete reviews
Once a review passes moderation it is locked. Practice owners can post a public response, but they cannot alter the score, edit the reviewer's words, or remove the review from their profile.
Scores are smoothed, not inflated
We use a Bayesian scoring method that anchors new practices toward the platform average until enough reviews have been collected. A single 5-star review does not make a practice top-rated overnight.
How review verification works
When a patient submits a review they provide an email address. We immediately send a magic-link verification email to that address. Clicking the link confirms that a real person with access to that inbox wrote the review.
Patient submits a review
The reviewer completes the multi-step form — treatment, scores, and written feedback — and provides an email address. The review is not published yet.
Verification email is sent
We send a one-time magic link to the email address. This confirms the reviewer is a real person and gives them permanent access to their review.
Review enters moderation
Our moderation process checks for policy violations — fake claims, promotional content, or abusive language. Most reviews are approved within 24 hours.
Review is published
The review appears on the practice profile. Verified reviews are labelled and ranked above unverified ones in the default sort order.
Reviews submitted via a practice's own invite link — where the practice sends a review request directly to a patient — are treated as verified by default, because the practice has already confirmed the patient relationship.
What the badges mean
The reviewer's email address has been confirmed via a magic link, or the review was submitted through a practice-issued invite.
The reviewer submitted the review but has not yet clicked the verification link. The review is still moderated, but the email link was not confirmed. Unverified reviews appear below verified ones.
The practice profile has been claimed by an authenticated owner or team member. This means someone from the practice monitors reviews and can post responses.
Shown when a practice has fewer than 5 published reviews. Scores exist but should not yet be treated as representative — more feedback is needed before a clear picture emerges.
How scores are calculated
SmileProof uses a Bayesian average rather than a simple arithmetic mean. This prevents a practice with one or two reviews from appearing artificially high or low in rankings.
The method works by starting every practice at the platform average and gradually shifting its score toward its actual ratings as more reviews arrive. In plain terms: the more verified reviews a practice has, the more its score reflects what patients actually said.
Each practice is scored across six dimensions independently — Staff Friendliness, Communication, Anxiety Handling, Pain Management, Value for Money, and Treatment Results — so patients can compare practices on what matters most to them, not just a single number.
Moderation
Every review is checked before it is published. We remove or reject reviews that:
- Appear to have been written by a competitor or someone with a commercial motive
- Contain personal attacks on named staff members
- Include false factual claims or defamatory statements
- Are clearly duplicates or coordinated submissions from the same source
- Contain discriminatory, hateful, or threatening language
Practices can flag a review for investigation, but flagging does not automatically remove it. We review each flag independently. If a review is removed following investigation, the reviewer is notified.
AI summaries
Practice profiles with enough reviews display an AI-generated summary of patient feedback. These summaries are produced by processing published reviews through a language model and are stored in our database — they are not generated live on every page load.
AI summaries are shown only when a practice has at least 5 published reviews, or has a claimed and verified profile. Below that threshold, we show a “Early patient insights” label to make clear that the data is limited.
AI summaries reflect patterns in what patients have written — they do not represent our own editorial opinion, and they are not a clinical assessment of any practice.
Report a concern
If you believe a review is fake, has been manipulated, or violates our guidelines, please use the flag button on the review or contact us directly. We take every report seriously and aim to respond within 5 working days.
Report a concern